Ugwuanyi: Redefining Governance At 56

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi

BY LOUIS AMOKE

As we celebrate with the people’s governor, it is our collective responsibility to continue to appreciate God‘s abundant blessings upon him and his family’s life, reflect and pray fervently for continued peace and good governance, and encourage him to hold on tightly to his sound vision to take Enugu State to the next level.


He is no less a child of providence. Attaining 56 years of age on March 20, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State is certainly the man of the moment for so many obvious reasons. With his unique disposition to life, the governor has come a long way navigating with peacefulness, humility, caring, compassion, vision, hard-work and the fear of his beloved God. He has carved a niche for himself as an outstanding leader whose approach to handling issues remains unbeatable and enduring.

The governor’s birthday is the first after his inauguration for a second term in office following his overwhelming reelection by the people of Enugu State. He won with an unprecedented 95.54 per cent of the votes cast, the highest in the history of the country and this is symbolic and yet another opportunity to appreciate God, through acts of charity, for his mercy and kindness.

To this great man of faith and goodwill, compassionate in uplifting the downtrodden and resolute in entrenching peace and good governance in the state, the anniversary, is as always, people-centered and a boost to continue to serve with the fear of God and render selfless service to the state and humanity.

It is on record that Governor Ugwuanyi’s penchant for the wellbeing of the people, especially the needy and downtrodden in the society, has been unequalled and a great source of strength.

In ensuring peace and good governance in Enugu State, the governor in spite of the nation’s security and economic challenges, has continued to make sacrifices and work round the clock to sustain the state’s enviable peaceful atmosphere and enhance the delivery of service to the people at every level of the state.







As an unassuming leader, Governor Ugwuanyi is at peace with everybody; he relates and interacts with both the high and the low; he listens, tolerates, accommodates and cares; and most importantly, fears and serves God, faithfully. He has no enemy and always pays the ultimate price for peace to reign. The governor is one who delights in the joy of his people and shares in their grief as well.

Governor Ugwuanyi also delights in addressing grey issues that are paramount to the wellbeing of the people, especially the lowly and long neglected who had hitherto been denied the dividends of democracy.

His administration’s widely cherished rural development policy, which has provided the veritable platform to address the hydra-headed imbalance between urban and rural dwellers in terms of distribution of amenities, indeed, caused a spontaneous revolution that brought about massive infrastructural development in the rural areas.

The state government’s grassroots-development initiative has, therefore, ensured a systematic concentration of infrastructural developments more in the rural areas that were hitherto in dearth of amenities, helplessly. The special attention to rural areas, where the majority of the people reside, was borne out of the governor’s vision to give every citizen of the state a sense of belonging.



It is on record that Ugwuanyi’s administration has profusely invested huge resources in developing the rural communities, concentrating development projects in the remote villages to create more urban centres for socio-economic growth.

In this regard, communities such as Amurri and Ogonogoeji in Nkanu West LGA, Eha-Amufu in Isi-Uzo LGA, Ukpabi-Nimbo-Ugbene Ajima-Eziani in Uzo-Uwani LGA and Akpugoeze in Oji River LGA, that had not experienced state government presence for many decades, have been remembered with one development project or the other.

The sum of N3.4 billion was appropriated in the 2020 budget, for the establishment of a small/medium-sized Industry in each of the seventeen (17) local government areas of the State, at an average sum of N200 million per LGA.

While all these were going on, the Ugwuanyi administration through its urban renewal drive has equally ensured provision of critical infrastructure, beautification and upgrade of facilities in the urban areas, while restoring Enugu city to its original master-plan. The state government in its 2020 budget also captured the construction of the Enugu first ever flyover and completion of the International Conference Centre (ICC), among other legacy projects, to enhance the status and socio-economic potentials of the state capital.

On the whole, about 600 kilometres of road across the state have been covered so far by Ugwuanyi’s administration.

This is in addition to remarkable achievements in other sectors of development such as security, state workers’ welfare, education, health, empowerment, investment promotion, agriculture, Judiciary infrastructural transformation, among others.

Only recently, the state workers trooped out in their numbers and marched through the streets of Enugu to the Government House, in jubilation, to thank Ugwuanyi for being the first governor of the state, since the inception of democracy in 1999, to pay them the minimum wage without rancour.

The jubilant workers, who were led by the state leadership of the organised labour sang solidarity songs and displayed banners/placards with inscriptions such as: “Enugu State workers say Thank You His Excellency for the new minimum wage”, “Gburus, Enugu workers say Thank You for regular payment of salaries”, “Gburus, thank you for giving us new minimum wage without stress”, “Thank you for regular payment of monthly pensions”, “Gburus, you are a pacesetter”, “Gburus is our man”.

They told the people’s governor that the workers were surprised and elated to receive their salary alerts during the weekend reflecting the new minimum wage in line with the agreed consequential adjustment chart.

According to them, “today is a special day in the history of Enugu State. This is because there is no worker in Enugu State that did not benefit from Ugwuanyi’s alert, and that is why we are singing now”.

Narrating other numerous interventions of the governor towards the welfare of the state workers, such as the 100 units of one-bedroom flats for civil servants between grade levels 01-10, regular payment of salaries and pensions and the payment of 13th month salary, the workers pointed out that “It’s instructive that Governor Ugwuanyi was recording such feats at a time when many states could not pay their workers’ salaries”.

Speaking at the event, the state chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria, Comrade Benneth Asogwa maintained that the state workers marched to the Government House to let the world know that “it is because you have been able to turn the history positively as far as minimum wage is concerned in Enugu State”.

According to him, “we want to also tell them (the world) that what we are doing today is significant because in the past, whenever minimum wage was being expected, it was always negative. Then, we would mourn from, maybe, New Haven to our Secretariat crying and shouting. Then, you would see all Enugu in pains. But today, we have come to Government House, smiling”.

Comrade Asogwa, who maintained that this was the first time the workers had a salary chart that was a product of collective bargaining, told Gov. Ugwuanyi that “the greatest political party you have identified with is the public service and you are a full registered member and we can tell you that you have our mandate, anytime.”

His words: “Your Excellency, I want to summarize by saying that history will never forget your regime. We stand here to say that in Enugu State, we have worked for years without salary chart until somebody called Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, a.k.a Gburugburu, came and the dignity of workers was restored. We stand here today to say, Your Excellency, we are very grateful”.

On the significance of the governor’s 56th birthday, the time-honoured occasion, symbolically reinvigorates his commitment to charity and almsgiving – a constant moral obligation in appreciation of God’s goodness and amazing grace to him as “Nwaogbenye”.

The anniversary offers him and his family, friends, well-wishers, and teeming supporters, who have remained steadfast in prayers, yet another opportunity to give to the poor and less privileged in the society with all sense of divinity and benevolence.

Consequently, the pet project of the governor’s wife, Ugo’s Touch of Life Foundation, is at the moment offering one week free medical outreach across the 17 LGAs of the state, in collaboration with Dr. Chukwudi Abraham Nneji Hospital Organization, Germany, to celebrate the governor’s birthday.

This humanitarian exercise is in keeping with the governor’s long-held appeal that those who intended to offer him birthday gifts should deploy them to charity in appreciation of God’s mercy and kindness as well as in the spirit of the Lenten Season.

As we celebrate with the people’s governor, it is our collective responsibility to continue to appreciate God‘s abundant blessings upon him and his family’s life, reflect and pray fervently for continued peace and good governance, and encourage him to hold on tightly to his sound vision to take Enugu State to the next level. Happy Birthday, His Excellency. Enugu State is truly in the hands of God!

SOURCE: PREMIUM TIMES

NEWSROOM: S’East Leaders To FG: Declare Herdsmen Terrorists

Map of South East

Plans ‘Operation Ogbunigwe’ to fight insecurity
Govs adopt community policing
It’s the way to go, says IGP

BY KENNETH OFOMA

ENUGU (NEW TELEGRAPH)--South-East leaders, comprising members of apex Igbo body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, traditional and religious leaders, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to declare killer herdsmen terrorists and tinker with the constitution to allow digbo to establish a regional security outfit to be known as “Operation Ogbunigwe.”

The Igbo leaders made the call during a security summit, with the theme: “Strategic partnership for defective community policing in the South-East,” organised by the Nigeria Police in partnership with governors of the five states of the zone.

The event was attended by police hierarchy led by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu; Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Willie Obiano (Anambra), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and the deputy governor of Imo State, Prof. Placid Njoku, who represented Governor Hope Uzodinma.

Also in attendance were a cross section of Igbo leaders, including Ohanaeze President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo; religious leaders and prominent traditional rulers.

Nwodo, who decried rising insecurity across the country, called on the Federal Government to allow the South-East to establish a security outfit to be named “Operation Ogbunigwe” to tackle the menace.

“Section 14 of the Constitution gives the governors as chief security officers, the power to provide security for their people. If the governors are not fully integrated in the processes of community policing, including recruitment of the special constables among other things, then it is dead on arrival. What our people want is to own our domestic security. There must be a way our law will allow us to have our own Ogbunigwe,” he said.

Also decrying a situation where no police commissioner of Igbo speaking state was posted to any state of the region and posting of one State Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) of Igbo extraction to one state in the zone, the Ohanaeze President General wondered how people with a different language, religion and culture can effectively police other people with opposing features.

He consequently called for dismantling of excessive and oppressive security check points within the region, saying that he personally counted 17 of such roadblocks along the Enugu-Onitsha expressway and they all serve as toll gates for financial extortion.

The Archbishop of Enugu Anglican Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, who spoke on behalf of other religious leaders, called on the Federal Government to declare killer herdsmen as terrorists.

“The Federal Government should declare Fulani herdsmen as terrorists. Our men and women don’t go to their farms any longer. Government should reduce the number of roadblocks in the South-East and reduce the number of policemen attached to politicians. Some politicians have 20 policemen, while we don’t have enough,” he said.

However, governors of the South-East in their submission resolved to adopt the Community Policing Programme of the Nigerian Police Force to solve security challenges in the zone.

Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum and governor of Ebonyi State, Umahi, who stated the position of the governors at the summit, said they were satisfied with the Inspector-General of Police strategies for the implementation of the community policing programme in the zone.

Umahi, who noted that the governors had earlier had a closed door meeting with the police boss at Enugu Government House before coming to the Base Event Center, Enugu, venue of the summit, stated: “We reached satisfactory and acceptable decisions and agreement. We can assure you that all the concerns of security challenges we have here in the South-East as presented here by the President of Ohanaeze, our religious leaders and of course our traditional fathers was not different from what was handed to us and we went through that with the IGP without letting you know the details. We assure you that all the challenges are being addressed.”

The governors noted that explanation and details provided to them by the IGP gave them the confidence to assure the people of the zone that community policing is not different from the neighbourhood watch, vigilante operation and forests guards as well as the herdsmen and farmers peace committees.

Umahi further said that the governors resolved as follows: “We decided as your governors to embrace the initiative of community policing, which is an official endorsement in line with the Police Act as part of what we are doing to safeguard the lives and property of our people. We commend the IGP so much, he is a man that is committed to professionalism. Even the roadblocks, we have discussed it and you will begin to see a lot of changes from today.

“Taking into cognisance the existing security initiative instituted by governors of the states in the South-East geo-political zone at the various local level such as vigilante group, the neighbourhood watch, forest guards among others which are in conformity with the community policing strategy, the state governors have accepted and adopted community policing as an effective tool in bringing policing to the grassroots.

“Community policing committees made up of traditional rulers, community leaders, town union leaders, religious leaders etc., within the locality will be charged with the responsibility of selecting and recruiting community policing officers that will work within the communities.

“The governors of states within the South-East geo-political zone are to reinforce and provide improved capacity for the police and other security agencies in their respective states in support of the community policing programme. This is as the states within the South-East zone will individually and periodically undertake operation against crimes and criminality in synergy with the police and other security agencies.

The Chairman of Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council, HRH Amb. Lawrence Agubuzu, who spoke on behalf of traditional rulers in the zone, said the royal fathers stand with the position of the governors.

The IGP had earlier stated that the community policing model being envisioned for Nigeria under the current dispensation is one that will draw on the legal opportunities provided by the Police Act for the engagement of special constables, who in this instance, will be engaged as community policing officers under the coordination of the Nigeria Police towards evolving a community-focused policing architecture.

His words: “Provisions for the establishment and utilization of Special Constables is provided for under Section 49 of the Police Act and they are appointed in accordance with the provisions of Section 50(1) of the Police Act.

“In view of these provisions which approve them to serve particular purposes and which also confer upon them, the powers, privileges and immunities of police officer within their localities, special constables will be trained and used as Voluntary Community Police Officers to drive the Community Policing initiative at the grassroots level.

“This event is convened within the framework of our community policing initiative and as part of the strategies of the Nigeria Police to employ an all-inclusive strategy toward aiding us in the achievement of our internal security mandate, particularly in the South-East states.

The IGP said the summit was the sixth in the series and that all ended with very successful outcomes and the strategies jointly developed as well as partnerships built have so far been effective in addressing the security threats that are peculiar to each zone.

ENUGU: New Minimum Wage And Ugwuanyi’s Care For Workers

Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi

BY THERESA CHINWEUBA
I was not among those who were surprised when news hit the airwaves, online and print media that Enugu state government has approved the payment of the N30,000 new minimum wage to workers in the state with effect from February 2020. The approval according to the news came after the State Executive Council approved the report of the Joint Committee of the state government representatives and that of the leadership of the Organised Labour in the state that was set up by the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to work on the consequential adjustment of the new minimum wage.

Many may ask why I wasn’t surprised. I was not surprised for several reasons and verifiable facts. Since 2015 Ugwuanyi assumed office, I have kept close tab on his administration’s policies and programmes, especially as it concerns workers’ welfare. It is a matter of fact that Enugu is not an oil producing state. In the country’s Monthly Federation allocation cadre, Enugu state is almost at the bottom level. The state is more of civil servants’ state than any other thing.

On assumption of office, Ugwuanyi took note of the abovementioned facts about the state and set his administration’s priorities right from the onset. Ugwuanyi firstly introduced fiscal discipline, accountability and prudence in the management of the state meagre resources. His government plugged the leakages and loopholes in the handling of the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), an action that shored up the state’s IGR tremendously and significantly.

Knowing the indispensable roles of workers in formulating, implementing and strengthening government policies and programmes, Ugwuanyi without delay made worker’s welfare one of his administration’s top priorities.

To show his administration’s preparedness, sincerity and commitment to this, Ugwuanyi’s quickly cleared the backlog of salaries owed workers in 14 out of the 17 council areas in the state, he inherited from his predecessor.

As if that was not enough for the workers, Ugwuanyi’s administration commenced the prompt payment of workers’ salary and allowances every 23rd of the month and 13 month in December as Christmas bonus.

Ugwuanyi’s government absorbed 54% of the total cost of the 100 housing units at Elim Estate, Ibagwa Nike allocated to workers and prudently utilised the state/ local government share of Paris Club Refund. His government also promoted and recruited over 4000 workers and at the same time approved the elongation of the terminal grade of qualified primary school teachers to level 16. Not left out in Ugwuanyi’ s ceaseless largesse to workers in the state are 731 former staff of some state parastatals who were paid arrears of salaries owed them and 42 casual staff of Enugu State Teaching Hospital, Parklane Enugu that were made permanent staff of the hospital. N100 million was also approved by the Enugu State Executive Council to be spent monthly in clearing the backlog of pension arrears owed pensioners in the state over the years. Because of the huge accumulations and backlogs, Ugwuanyi’s government is still struggling till date with scarce resources to clear pensions and meets up with its other financial obligations.

It is on record that since 2015 Ugwuanyi came into office, workers in the state have never embarked on any strike action.That is unprecedented in the history of government-workers relationship in the state. The workers have always had the best of relationship with Ugwuanyi’s administration, because of the way Ugwuanyi’s government has continued to care for thier welfare.

So it was not out of place, when in 2018 in Enugu, the leadership of the Organised Labour in the state alongside its national leadership conferred on Ugwuanyi, the award of the most Labour-friendly governor in the country, an award many Nigerians described as well deserved.

Having done all the above mentioned good things for Enugu workers since 2015, I was not doubtful of Ugwuanyi administration’s readiness to pay the 30,0000 minimum wage when the issue began to rage in April last year between Federal Government and its workers. My only little worry and surprise then was that even at the peak of the negotiations between the Federal Government and Labour union over the payment of the minimum wage, Ugwuanyi’s government recruited 1500 primary school teachers and recently the State Executive Council approved another recruitment of middle level and senior cadre personnel into the state’s civil service.

According to the State Commissioner for Information, Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh, “the recruitment is aimed at strengthening the state workforce by bringing in sharp and fresh hands into the system. The government also approved the total overhaul of the State Ministry of Health that would entailed the recruitment of consultants, nurses and others.”

One interesting and good thing about Ugwuanyi government’s approval of the new 30,000 minimum wage is that it is an outcome of the collective bargaining and dialogue between the leadership of the Organised Labour in the state and Ugwuanyi’s government. This is unlike in 2011 when the then Enugu state government unilaterally fixed what should be paid to workers in the state as minimum wage. It would be recalled that Ugwuanyi set up a joint committee on consequential adjustment of the new minimum wage which has the leadership of the Organised Labour and representatives of the state government as members.

The committee looked into the financial books of the state government thoroughly before arriving at a consensus on the new minimum wage adjustment before its approval by the state executive council. This was confirmed by the Chairman of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, Comrade Chukwuma Igbokwe, when he said: “What happened was that in 2011, we were not given this opportunity as labour union to go into negotiation with government. We were shut out by the state government then. What was paid in 2011 as minimum wage was not a product of collective bargaining. That means that consequential adjustment was done in 2011. “What Enugu Government did then was to add money to salaries of those below N18,000 and so on. That kind of arrangement created confusion in the service. We are happy to be fully involved in the consequential adjustment negotiation with Ugwuanyi’s government before arriving at a consensus.

“We are happy with the outcome, which is the approval of the new 30,000 minimum wage for workers in the state to take effect from February 2020.” With all these, one can say unequivocally that since the creation of Enugu State in 1991, workers in the state have never had it so rosy and good as they have experienced and witnessed it under Ugwuanyi’s administration. The governor has indeed shown the workers undying love and care since 2015.

With the prompt and constant payment of salaries and allowances 23rd of every month since 2015, which has helped the workers in the state to be financially stable and plan for their future, the workers cannot stop supporting and celebrating Ugwuanyi. No wonder they massively voted for his reelection in 2019 and have continued to show his government undiluted solidarity and support in the state.

Chinweuba, a retired civil servant, writes from Independence Layout, Enugu

NEWSROOM: CP Parades 2 Child Traffickers, Recovers 9 Children In Enugu

Police Command in Enugu State on Friday paraded two suspected child traffickers who specialize in moving children from Plateau State in North Central zone to River State in South-South zone.

Parading the suspects in Enugu, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Ahmed Abdurrahman, said that the suspects were intercepted trafficking nine children on Jan. 4. 

He said the suspects and the children were in a luxury bus travelling from the Northern part of the country. 

Abdurrahman said that they were intercepted at Orba Check-point in Udenu council area of the state by the army troop “Operation Atilogwu Udo 1’’. 

He noted that the army authorities, however, handed over the victims and suspects to the command for further investigation. 

According to him, the nine children, including four girls and five boys aged between two year and 13 years, were recovered from the suspected child traffickers.

He said that one female suspect was moving with the children in the luxury bus before the interception. 

“We also have another suspect, who arranges the children being trafficked for Nwachi from Barkin Ladi council area in Plateau State,” he said. 

The commissioner, however, said that the police was still tracking the end receiver of the trafficked children, who allegedly runs an orphanage in Port Harcourt, River State.

“This is a type of organised crime where children are trafficked from the Northern part of the country to the South-East and South-South. This syndicate runs their illegal business using orphanage as a cover-up. 

“We have reached and contacted the parents of the trafficked children and some said that they gave their children to the (suspect) on condition that he will provide better welfare and education for them. 

“Some other parents said that they did not know when their children moved out of their homes and they have declared them missing for some time now. 

“While at the end receiver’s point, only God knows what these children are used for; some might be used as sacrificial lambs, child labour; and others subjected to a lot of criminal activities. 

“Parents especially people in Plateau State should be wary of the whereabout of their children. Parents should endeavour to take care of their children themselves,’’ he advised. 

The commissioner said that the children would be handed over to their parents after investigation. 

“I personally appreciate our sister security agencies especially the Nigerian Army that made this arrest possible,’’ he added. 

-----------------NAN

NEWSROOM: Police Wades Into Crises Rocking Gariki Cattle Market In Enugu

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Ahmad Abdulrahman, has waded into the crisis rocking the Garriki Cattle market at Ugwuoba in Oji River Local Government Area of the state.

The move was aimed at restoring peace at the troubled market over the postponed election to elect accepted leaders at the multi-million naira cattle market.

The commissioner of Police met the two factions in the market – Amalgamated Cattle Dealers Association, ACDA, led by Aminu Iya and Amalgamated Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers Association, AFCDA, led by Buba Garba, at the State Police Headquarters in Enugu on Friday.

Speaking to newsmen before the meeting, the representative of Amalgamated Cattle Dealers Association, Mr Abdul’aziz Mohammed, accused members of the faction led by Garba of being responsible for the postponement of the Ugwuoba cattle market election.

Mohammed said the AFCDA members allegedly disrupted the election that was scheduled to hold in 2019 at the Oji River Local Government Secretariat by importing those he described as “thugs” to participate in the election.

He said that the action led to its postponement by the former Chairman of the local government, Mr Harrison Okeke.

On how the “thugs” got registered for the election, Mohammed alleged that Alhaji Buba photocopied the original registration card for them, which informed the decision to lock them out of the secretariat’s gate.

He said that the issue of election which had divided the market and caused revenue loss came to fore after the death of their leader, Mr Baba Malam in 2019.

He said that his faction was ready to participate in the election.

Meanwhile, Garba, the leader of Amalgamated Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers Association, has described the allegations against him and his members as `false and malicious’.

He said that the allegation that his members disrupted the earlier election was an attempt to ridicule him before the members of the public.

He said that his group would be ready to work with anybody who emerged as a leader in the market through the conduct of the free, fair and credible election in the market.

An indigene of Ugwuoba Community, Mr Jonathan Ikwumeleze however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that only generally accepted election would restore peace, unity, accountability, and development in the cattle market.

NAN reports that the two factions, at the end of the closed-door meeting, agreed to sheath their swords for the sake of peace and also work together towards getting electing leaders in the market.

---------------NAN

Enugu Govt Awards Over N1.1 Billion Contracts For Urban, Rural Projects

Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Image: Twitter

ENUGU (VANGUARD)--The Enugu State Executive Council (EXCO) yesterday awarded contracts for more infrastructural developments in the urban and rural areas, worth over N1.1 billion. This is in furtherance of the state government’s renewed vigour in providing democracy dividends to the people of the state.

It would be recalled that the state government in the last two months had awarded contracts for multiple development projects worth over N6.3 billion, which are ongoing.

Addressing newsmen after the meeting of the State Executive Council, yesterday, the Commissioner for Information, Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh, disclosed that the Council directed the Head of Service and the State Civil Service Commission to immediately commence the processes for the recruitment of middle level and senior level cadre staff “to bring in sharp and fresh hands to strengthen the state’s public service, which is the driving force for the implementation of government policies”. 

On the road projects awarded for construction and rehabilitation, Aroh further disclosed that the council granted approval for the construction of Phase III of Amokwe road in Udi Local Government Area starting from Udi Station through Ibuzo Amokwe to Amokwe Station road at the cost of N383,020,112.90. The Commissioner added that the Council awarded contract for the extension of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Ezi Ukehe-Afia Four-Umurusi-Major General Ezugwu House-Umuoka Junction road in Igbo Etiti LGA at the cost of N153,208,045.16.

 He stated that approval was also granted for the construction/rehabilitation of Ojoto Crescent, Trans Ekulu, Enugu at the cost of N153,208,045.16. 

Other road projects that were approved for construction and reconstruction by the Council include Brown and Brown Crescent, Independence Layout, Enugu, completion of internal roads at Diamond City Estate, GRA, Enugu, Ozidem-Nrobo-Abbi-Nimbo road (Earth Road) in Uzo Uwani LGA, totaling N312,469,396.75.

 On public buildings, Aroh stated that the Council approved the requests from the state Ministry of Works and Infrastructure for the construction of perimeter fence for the five fire service stations in the state that were newly constructed by Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration as well as the perimeter fence, retaining walls and gate houses at Diamond City Estate, GRA, Enugu, at the sum cost of N69,208,006.34. 

He further stated that the requests for supply and installation of single-arm smart integrated solar powered street lights (80 watts) and solar powered borehole for the five (5) new fire service stations were equally approved. 

In line with the state government’s commitment to improve water supply in the state, Aroh revealed that the EXCO approved the advertisement for immediate rehabilitation of the 9th mile borehole project and construction of fresh boreholes in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor to enhance the supply of water to people of the state. 

On healthy living, the Commissioner said that EXCO directed the Ministry of Agriculture to immediately advertise for a Consultant to handle the technical processes for the construction of abattoirs in the state to ensure safety of meat consumption.

 He added that the Council called for “total reorganization of the Ministry of Health” which will include recruitment of new staff, consultants, nurses and other critical health personnel to enhance effective delivery of services in the health sector in the state.

Aroh maintained that the EXCO also approved the setting up of monitoring and evaluation team to evaluate and monitor the implementation of the 2020 budget in keeping with the state government’s commitment to accountability, transparency and fiscal responsibility.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

First Free Community Hospital Takes Off In Enugu

Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu

The first ever-free community hospital is billed for commissioning in Enugu State next week.

Built by the traditional ruler of Ubogidi/Ozalla Autonomous Community in Nsukka Local Council, Chief Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu, the hospital will provide free medical and maternal services to the people.

The 20-bed-space health facility is equipped with scanning machine, ultra sound, laboratory, eye clinic equipment and a standby 750 KVA power generating set, to ease the pain of accessing medical services by villagers.

Ahead of the commissioning on December 27, by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, about 20 patients diagnosed with different ailments had already been treated free of charge.

Asadu, a nurse of over 24 years in Dallas Texas, USA said the hospital project was to give back to the community, rather than wait for the state and Federal Government to do so.

Meanwhile, Asadu had earlier renovated two primary schools in the community.

He said: “My intention is not to make money from the hospital, but to touch lives. The hospital renders free medical attention for both minor and major cases. irrespective of gender. I engaged two medical doctors, 10 nurses and other paramedical assistants for the operation at the hospital. The hospital is free for my community, while others will pay for services rendered to enable management maintain the pace, purchase drugs and pay salaries,” he stated.

Chairman of the board of the hospital, Prof. Felix Asogwa, praised the donor for conceiving the idea.

-------------------LAWRENCE NJOKU/THE GUARDIAN

South East Pensioners Bemoan Neglect

South East Pensioner image via The Sun

BY OBINNA ODOGWU, GEORGE ONYEJIUWA, OKEY SAMPSON, CHIJIOKE AGWU, JUDE CHINEDU

Pensioners in the South East have bemoaned their plight, especially with the backlog of pension arrears owed them.

Daily Sun gathered that lamentations over poor welfare have become the lot of pensioners any time the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) in the region meet.

From non-payment of monthly entitlements to unpaid gratuities, pensioners in Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states share the same fate. Daily Sun learnt that members of the pensioners’ union have been crying to governors of the South East states to make their welfare top priority.

Their cry had been hinged on the death of members because of deprivations of their pensions to buy drugs and foods.

Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that retirees in Ebonyi, Abia, Enugu and Anambra states have one sour tale or another to tell in respect of unpaid gratuity. For instance, it was learnt that some persons who retired about 15 years ago were yet to receive their gratuities in the zone, while some states were paying by instalments.

Zonal Chairman of NUP, Mr. Chukwuma Udensi said pensioners in Abia suffer most as many of them could not keep count of the last time they received their pension.

He also alleged that pensioners in Enugu state earn less than N2,000 monthly, regretting that even the paltry sum was not paid regularly.

Udensi said the trend had left members in agonizing conditions, with some dying out of frustration and poverty.

Chairman of NUP in Ebonyi, Nwofe Okemini alleged that one per cent of pension was illegally deducted from their members by the government and paid to another group of retirees. He said the deduction had been going on for many years and that the recipients were members of a body christened Asociation of Retired Permanent Secretaries.

Vice Chairman of the union in Ebonyi, Ibiam Nkechinyere, has, however, called on the state to include retirees from 2014 in the screening of pensioners for payment of gratuities. She said that selecting only retirees from 2015 to 2019 was not in the best interest of all.

In Anambra, Anthony Ugozor said local government pensioners consisting of retired primary school teachers, local government officers, and officers of the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), have not been paid since 2017. He disclosed that they were being owed arrears of local government pensioners for 11 months for those of them that retired from 2002 to 2003, adding that letters written to Governor willie Obiano on the issue had not yielded any result.

“It was 22 months, but Governor Peter Obi paid 16 out of that 22 months leaving 11 months. But he approved it for payment, but it has not been paid up till now,” he said.

Similarly, the Zonal Secretary of NUP, Livinus Ashiegbu, at a meeting in Abakaliki, raised concerns over the death of members because of deprivations of their pensions to buy drugs and foods.

“The condition of pensioners in the South East is deteriorating; it is unheard of and it is inhuman. Pensioners are not treated as Nigerians. I wonder if they are citizens. And the nation forgets that these are the people that have built up the state.

“The time they need this little money from their saved salary, they are denied of it for years. The question of gratuity is the most pathetic. For example, since 1998 in Imo no pensioner has received his gratuity if it is above N500,000,” he said.

Like in Enugu, Ugozor lamented that some of the pensioners receive below N2,000 as monthly pension and he called for harmonisation of the pensions.

“Some receive N2,000 while some receive less than N2,000 every month as pension. That is why we are calling for review. Recently, there was minimum wage review to N30,000. We are saying that pension should be reviewed side by side with minimum wage so that pensioners will feel a bit better.

“When the minimum wage of N18,000 was implemented about 10 years ago, there was no review of pension because the constitution of Nigeria talked of the review of pension every five years or whenever the salary of the civil service workers is increased. This is in section 210 subsection 3 of the 1999 constitution (as amended). It is not implemented and the pensioners don’t have the capacity, or the will, to go on strike because they are not serving again.

“For you to understand it, pensioners that retired on one grade level in 1990 or 1980 receive very little, but pensioners who retired on the same grade level in 2017 or 2018 receive 10 times more than those that retired earlier. So, we are calling for parity. And that parity will be achieved by harmonization of pensions,” he stated.

In Enugu, aside the non-payment of gratuity, the leaderships of labour has decried the condition of local government pensioners, saying they were struggling to cope with pension arrears and gratuity backlog dating from 2005.

Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Ben Asogwa and his Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) counterpart, Chief Damian Udeani, said that though the state pensioners were paid regularly, the retirees were also burdened with a gratuity backlog from 2009.

Said Asogwa: “2008, 2007 and 2006 have a huge chunk of pensioners that were not paid their gratuity. And the present government came up with an arrangement to be releasing N100million every month so as to take care of their gratuity. Government wants to pay two months until the arrears are cleared;that’s the arrangement now. But the gratuity situation is pathetic. This is both at local and state government level. At local government it was paid last in 2005, at state government level, it was last paid in 2010.”

Asogwa said: “In April this year, Enugu government stopped the release of the N100 million per month, but the governor said recently that he will reinstate it. So, we are looking forward to that and hoping he will do accordingly.”

On the frequent verification exercises for pensioners, Asogwa said it was a good development in assisting to plug fraud in the system. But in Ebonyi, some pensioners called for the standardisation of the verification exercise, claiming that many of them had died in the process.

Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Ebonyi, Leonard Nkah said the last verification of pensioners in the state was in August 2019, adding that the state had paid up to October.

He said labour leaders were in talks with the government to ensure that the November pension was paid.

One states that has given pensioners cause to smile is Imo.

Governor Emeka Ihedioha in the past six months has streamlined the pension system after the biometric verification which uncovered 8, 549 ghost pensioners. The exercise had reduced the monthly pension wage bill of the state to N1.2 billion as against the N 1.4 billion. So far, the administration has paid August, September, October and November pensions via e-payment process.

Chairman of NUP in Imo, P.U. Ugochukwu and Chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Napoleon Aniche have applauded Governor Ihedioha for paying pensioners.

In Abia, pensioners are owed several months of arrears.

But the state government said it is paying N800million monthly as pension, the figure is made up of N500million for civil servants and N300m for local government workers. Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi Kalu said the state had the highest wage bill in the South East arguing that was why it spent so much on pensions payment.

The commissioner described the number of months of arrears of pension being bandied about as untrue, but declined to state the exact figure owed pensioners. He said despite the challenges, which included the paucity of funds in the payment of pensions, the state would make sure that pensioners celebrate Christmas with their pension paid.

SOURCE: THE SUN

Experts Say Pope’s Metaphor Of A ‘Field Hospital’ Has Special Punch For Africa

BY CHRISTOPHER WHITE

ENUGU, NIGERIA (CRUX) - According to a range of scholars at a Pan-African Congress on Theology, Pastoral Life, and Society, the pope’s metaphor for the Church as a “field hospital” provides particular resonance for the African continent - and, they say, must guide pastoral practice in the realms of education, liturgy, and the laity.

The pope used the phrase in his first major interview after his election in 2013 where he emphasized the need for the Church to respond to immediate and pressing needs of the people before less life-threatening concerns.

“It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars,” he said at the time. “You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”

During the December 5-8 congress at the Bigard Memorial Seminary in southeastern Nigeria, a number of the delegates relied on the pope’s metaphor to cast a vision of a church in Africa that encourages a reshaping of their ministries and programs more closely modeled after the pontiff’s method of dealing with a wounded flock.

Father Osita Asogwa, a lecturer in philosophy at Bigard Memorial Seminary, told attendees that the pope’s vision of a field hospital must focus on “pastoral care in concrete situations.”

Asogwa’s remarks focused particularly on the realm of education, and he encouraged a complete rethinking of the way it is approached in the African context.


Motivated by the pope’s call for greater missionary activity, Asogwa said the “good news must speak directly to the person,” with a particular focus on “renewal and revival.” He went on to add that education should focus on the “reality on the ground,” to better understand the field hospital in which the Church is operating and focus less on intellectual concerns and more on the need to speak to people about their particular sufferings and situations.

He criticized the fact that to this day, there are no pontifical universities in Africa - a question that he said he has posed to Roman curial officials, and it has gone unanswered. Further, he said educational programs have too often been shaped with the Vatican in mind, and that “Rome may not like it” is “a mantra that has killed most of our academic activities.”

For Professor Patrick Chibuko, chair of Sacred Liturgy at the Catholic Institute of West Africa, Francis’s lifestyle of simplicity and a focus on the margins “portrays the type of ecclesiology he is proposing to the Church.”

The field hospital, Chibuko maintained, “demands a corresponding liturgy in content and expression.”


Liturgy, he went on to argue, must appeal to the head, the heart, and the hands and that the appeal to intellect, emotion, and service must all be present. Chibuko also noted that liturgy could not be “strict and static,” but should reflect the life of the Church.

“It is, by nature, dynamic, since it is at the service of the Church,” he noted, adding that in the field hospital, liturgy cannot be only Roman but one that appreciated local culture and “helps Africans understand themselves.”

Dr. Nontando Hadeb, who teaches pastoral and systematic theology at St. Augustine College in South Africa, said that the field hospital of the Church must be outward focused and that the laity should serve as the “focal point of the hospital” and that programs and ministries should be shaped based on different needs and realities.


“Just like a hospital has different patients with different health needs, the laity is not homogenous. They have different needs, different voices, different wounds,” she continued. “They are the ones having to live in the world, and they represent different voices, the able bodied see things differently than the disabled, there are sexual minorities, there are the divorced, the remarried, and others. We have to listen to them.”

“You must walk with them and provide different solutions,” she concluded. “You can’t just give one medicine.”

Follow Christopher White on Twitter: @cwwhite212

Land Ownership Tussle Threatens Enugu Airport Reopening

BY EMEKA UGWUANYI

ENUGU (THE NATION)--Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, may not open soon as expected despite resolving safety concerns that led to its shut down by the Federal Government.

This is so because a fresh crisis over ownership of adjoining land at the airport is threatening its reopening.

There is a land contest between a private estate developer, Arch. J.J Emejulu and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which, according to the airport authorities, may jeopardise moves to reactivate the airport.

The land dispute is based on series of unconnected court cases in which Arch. J.J Emejulu is seeking to exercise ownership right over spaces of land in the vicinity of the airport.

A source at the airport also stated that conflict between the Nigeria Police and the Nigerian Air Force attached to FAAN over land ownership is also there.

The source stated that the airport might be permanently closed down if there is encroachment into the reserved space.

According to an FAAN official at Enugu, the contested land is located at the takeoff end of the airport, and would breach safety headroom for planned extension of the runway.

In response to enquiries on the encroachment, the Chairman of House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji, declared that nobody would stand in the way to reopening the airport as scheduled, warning those fighting for land to stop sabotaging the interest of the Southeast zone.

Also, the erstwhile President of Southeast and Southsouth Professionals, Mr. Emeka Ugwuoju, advised all parties in the land dispute to concede their personal stakes to public interest.

He stressed that the ongoing rehabilitation and upgrade of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport remains strategic to the economy of the region.

According to him, all government institutions and facilities are built on land acquired from original owners in public interest.

He wondered why acquisition of lands for development of critical development infrastructure would be a major issue in Enugu State.

He stated that anybody taking actions that would affect the reopening of the Enugu Airport is an instigated agent working against the people of the entire southeast region.

It would be recalled that the predicament of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport began with a declaration by the Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, in May that the airport would be downgraded due to safety and facility deficits.

He listed some of the safety concerns to include bad runway, closeness of a market and birds attracting-abattoir, and an aviation focused free trade zone.

But in a concerted tripartite agreement, the Enugu State Government, Ministry of Aviation and the National Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) smoothly resolved all observed concerns about the airport, leading the minister to declare rehabilitation work at the airport.

Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Hamisu Rabiu Yadudu, had expressed satisfaction with the relocation of the Orie Emene market, abattoir, and the dismantling of the Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) Radio/TV mast.

Yadudu said the issue of the ENPOWER Free Trade Zone has also been resolved with its Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Emeka Eneh, during the inspection.

He declared that “the required land FAAN wants to protect is secured” for safety and security, adding: “We are happy with that and ENPOWER Free Trade Zone is also happy that with the remaining land, they can still go ahead with their initiative and develop the land.”

Despite the resolution of the issues, the airport was shut down on August 24 due to bad state of the runway and other navigational facilities. After series of high profile visit by southeast governors, President Muhammadu Buhari expeditiously approved N10 billion for rehabilitation and upgrade of the airport.

A construction firm, PW Limited, has been deployed to reconfigure and reconstruct the runway to accommodate wide body aircraft including the Boeing 787 and dreamliner series.

National Aviation Management Agency (NAMA) has also announced commencement of work on airfield lighting and safety systems as well as on modernization of the terminal building and new reopening deadline was fixed for April 2020.

Hon. Nnaji stated that the entire southeast region would rise against anyone that might be working with enemies of the zone to sabotage the prevailing presidential fiat on speedy rehabilitation of the airport.

Mr. Ugwuoju advised those whose land might be affected by the developments at the airport to approach the government for resolution of the issues in line with established provisions.

He warned that sustained bickering over the land would derail the prevailing momentum for reopening of the airport.

The Sullivan Chime Era

Sullivan Chime. 

Title: An Honour to Serve: Enugu State in the Sullivan Years
Publisher: Bookcraft, Ibadan
Editor: Tony Onyima
Year of Publication: 2018
Pagination: 456

REVIEWED BY HENRY AKUBUIRO

Comely, humane, urbane and self-effacing: such qualities are usually associated with the make-believe world where the artist has the latitude to delineate an ideal hero without hubris. Among the Nigerian political class, it is almost a wishful thinking to find such real-life archetype to lionise, for our politicians, going by recent precedents, tend more towards the nondescript character whose dispositions and actions elicit odium and ridicules.

However, Barrister Sullivan Iheanacho Chime, former Enugu State Governor, is one of the few exceptions. “I saw a beautiful Enugu as a child and I later saw it go down. I knew we had the capacity to rebuild Enugu. That was the passion that drove my government,” the ex-governor admits on page 29 of a new book documenting his eight years in the Lion Building, Enugu State (May 29, 2007 – May 29, 2015), edited by Tony Onyima, an accomplished media practitioner.

In a 456-page and 14-chapter glossy package, the book recounts that the Sullivan Chime administration was predicated on a Four-Point Agenda, the details of which are fleshed out in the fourth chapter of the book –“The Promise”. They include Physical Infrastructure (comprising road, housing, water and electricity), Economic Expansion and Employment, Rural Development, and Service Delivery. From the fifth to the thirteenth chapter, the reader is regaled with giant strides of the highflyer with accompanying pictorial evidences.

By 2015, when he left office, the promise had been fulfilled to a very large extent, according to the book. Chime, working in concert with a team of committed commissioners and aides, left indelible footprints to serve as a model in modern-day statecraft. Chime easily stands out in the class of 2007-2015 governors with his many innovative and groundbreaking initiatives. Some of these outstanding achievements can be highlighted under his Four-Point agenda.

His Enugu urban renewal under the Physical Infrastructure agenda still attracts accolades even years after leaving office. From its previous colonial outlook, Chime gave Enugu metropolis a total makeover in terms of look and feel. Most of the major roads in the metropolis were expanded and re-developed. The massive road construction and re-development was complemented with construction of modern bridges, such as Nyama Bridge, Zik Avenue Twin Bridge, and underpass at Enugu-Abakiliki Road. Akwata, a challenging terrain in Enugu metropolis, was transformed, against all expectations.

The book recounts that all the roads constructed were also fitted with modern road furniture such as signs, markings, drainages, reflective road guards, bus shelters, etc. The success of the accompanying “Light Up Enugu” was so groundbreaking that it led to Enugu being recognised as the city in the country with the highest number of streetlights. At the end of his eight-year tenure, Chime’s administration constructed over 1,159 kilometers of urban and rural roads. Out of this figure, the different local governments collectively constructed and asphalted 232.596 kilometers of roads while the state government collaborated with the local councils to construct 299.4 kilometers of roads. The state government alone constructed 295 kilometers of urban roads and 332 kilometers of rural roads.

Chime’s physical infrastructural revolution, details the book, also touched the housing sector tremendously. He initiated and supervised the building of twenty-four housing estates in the state, the first of its kind in the history of Enugu State. In most of these estates, his government provided sites and services like roads (59 kilometers of asphalted), drainages (111 kilometers), streetlights, walkways, electricity (38 transformers), water reticulation, etcetera. Some of the estates include Coal City Gardens, Liberty Estates (Phases 1 and 2), Greenland Estate, Maryland Estate, Palm Beach Estate, Sunrise Estate, Ekulu East and the Centenary City. Just as he was developing housing estates in Enugu city and across the state, he didn’t leave public buildings behind.

Also, a new state-of-the art State Secretariat with thirteen complex structures housing all the ministries was built. He not only constructed a new Governor’s Office (The Lion Building) in Enugu but also constructed a Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. Today, when you navigate the major streets of Enugu on Google, it is thanks to the “Enugu Virtual Streets” project embarked by his administration, working in tandem with Google.

In implementing his Four-Point Agenda, the Sullivan Chime administration, chronicles the book, brought many innovations to bear on governance. His government carried out a comprehensive reform of land administration by digitally archiving every single file. The Ministry of Lands was repositioned for increased efficiency; the process of transfer of titles and mortgages was enhanced; while all land titles in the state were revalidated. Needless to say, he ensured that the foundation for Enugu State Geoid was laid by establishing Geodetic Controls.

Under the title of “Service to the People”, chapter six of the book details Chime administration’s strides in transportation, health, waste management, education and security. With a revamped road infrastructure, the administration introduced the Enugu Taxi Scheme, which was popularly called “Sullivan Taxi”. All the 720 vehicles in the scheme were given out to unemployed youths under an incentivized repayment arrangement. A color scheme and numbering system was initiated for the taxi scheme, while the state-owned transport company, ENTRACO, was revamped.

Likewise, the Coal City Transport Services was given a massive boost with 50 air-conditioned buses. Under its Strategic Health Development plan, government paid for all expenses for care of the pregnant woman, child delivery and the child till age of five. As a consequence, there was a surge in maternal care attendance in the state. This maternal and child care scheme was unique to Enugu State, because, in other states, only child delivery was free, families paid for antenatal and child immunization. The state also established the Enugu State Medical Emergency Response Team (ESMERT). Equipped with 25 state-of-the-art Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, ESMERT was used to respond to road traffic and home medical emergencies.

As part of its Strategic Health Development Plan, the Chime administration, in 2009, started the construction of an ultra-modern diagnostic center in Enugu, named after Dr. Simon Ezevue Onwu, an Enugu native and the first person of Igbo extraction to be qualified as a medical doctor. The administration also upgraded the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital, Park Lane, which went on to graduate its first set of medical doctors after many years of being in the limbo. In addition, he implemented the district health system as adopted by the National Council of Health, dividing the state into seven health districts for efficiency. His administration engaged 1,000 health officers, renovated old and built new heath centers across the state.

The Chime administration, according to the book, re-organised the state’s waste management authority to sanitise and enforce cleanliness in the state. The state purchased a total of 37 quality heavy-duty compactors used in ridding the streets of filth of all sorts, such as household refuse, abandoned vehicles, industrial and drainage wastes, etc. The state acquired three heavy-duty road sweepers and thus became the first state in Nigeria to use street sweepers to improve efficiency and make street cleaning work easier.

The chroniclers of An Honour to Serve: Enugu State in the Sullivan Years do not leave anybody in doubt about the giant strides recorded in education. Chime’s administration, we learn, initiated the Volunteer Teachers’ Scheme in which retired school teachers were recruited to teach in underserved communities, as well as the School Linkage Programme, which partnered schools in the UK with a select number of schools in Enugu. Thirty thousand new primary and secondary school teachers were recruited, while over 10,000 teachers in all the 1,223 public primary schools received one-year training. Under his watch, still, Enugu State became the first state to carry out a statewide school-based deworming exercise for its public school pupils.

In addition, the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) made it a priority to distribute textbooks and other teaching materials to schools. The book informs us that he made education free from primary to junior secondary in the state. It also recounts that the state tertiary institutions were repositioned, with Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) and Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) as major beneficiaries. In the same vein, he established the College of Education Technical, Enugu State, which is now fully accredited. College of Agriculture, Iwollo was also set up.

In designing its development agenda, the Sullivan Chime administration was guided by international best practices. One of its 4-point agenda, service delivery and good governance forms the thrust of chapter seven of the book. Specifically, the administration set out to revamp law and order, general security, public service empowerment, citizens’ participation in governance, promotion of transparency in fiscal management and institutional reforms. In securing the state, the administration built strong partnerships with security agencies such as the police, army, air force and the Department of State Security.

The most important outcome of this partnership was that Enugu State was adjudged the state with the least crime rate in the country in 2013 by Alhaji M. D. Abubakar, the then Inspector-General of Police. Also Security Watch Africa, a non-governmental organisation, at her annual awards held in Dubai on November 14, 2014, picked Enugu State’s Neighborhood Watch as the “most outstanding community policing in West Africa”. It is on record that Enugu State, during Chime’s tenure, was the first state in Nigeria to make kidnapping a capital offence. With the support of Justice for All (J4A), an intervention program run by DfID, Enugu State became the first state to establish a Witness Support Unit. The Sexual Assault Referral Centre was also established.

Perhaps his background as a lawyer helped much, as Enugu State became the first to establish the Bail Information Center. Under Chime’s watch as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, the state’s laws were revised. This chapter also details citizens’ inclusion initiative of Chime administration such as the unique Visit Every Community aimed at ascertaining the immediate needs of communities; involvement of town unions in governance process and recognition of traditional rulers as central pillars in societal engineering. He also constituted the Council of Elders, comprising of eminent citizens from the state, who met periodically to rub minds and offer ideas to the governor.

One of the sore points of governance in Nigeria today is consistent inability of most state governments to regularly conduct elections into local government administrations. Enugu State under Chime was perhaps the only outstanding exception, as we find discover here. “We conducted the first local government election few months after my inauguration in 2007. We conducted four of such elections every two years before we left office – 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. It was also a way of ensuring citizens’ inclusion; of ensuring that the people were allowed to have their real representatives at the local government level,” Chime is quoted as saying in the book.

In contrast to what is happening in most of the states, Chime ensured the autonomy of local governments in Enugu State as prescribed by the constitution and the state law, which enabled the LGAs to embark on accelerated provision of infrastructure, using the state’s Economic Planning Commission as an interface to approve projects jointly executed by the state and the third tier of government. The Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) was established by law by the Chime administration to be the implementation and regulatory arm of all the agencies that had anything to do with urban development.

ECTDA’s achievements under Chime include the following: Enugu pay-and-display project for state traffic management system; special development control team on illegal buildings, buildings on water ways and street trading; and automation of the building plan approval process by capturing of all building plans in the system. Others include data gathering on the number of communication masts, petrol filling stations, and the number of banks and hotels. The high point was the enlistment of Enugu as one of the 100 Resilient Cities in the world by Rockefeller Foundation in 2014 out of the 331 cities applicants in the world.

Passionate about an Enugu State that worked, and determined to return her pride, Sullivan, with the benefit of experience both in life and in government, resolved to expand the state’s economy through serious planning, improving on her agriculture, tapping the cultural and tourism potentials, and industrialisation. Chime’s economic expansion agenda is aptly captured in chapter eight. The economy also boomed as the ex-governor created an avenue for private and public enterprises to thrive. State owned industries, like Sunrise Flour Mills, Niger Gas, the Presidential Hotel and Ikenga Hotels, were privatised.

The state, in addition, witnessed a micro, small and medium enterprises revolution during his tenure. According to the book, the Sullivan Chime administration, joining forces with local governments and the Central Bank of Nigeria, raised billions of naira to fund MSMEs in Enugu State, with a sizeable number of them going into packaging and value addition of products, which guaranteed exportability. The Enugu State Industrial Park, Emene and Enugu State Trade Free Zone came into existence, in partnership with a Chinese company, Golmark. With the commissioning of the Polo Park Mall in 2013 by the Sullivan Chime administration, it became the biggest mall in Nigeria, and the Enugu Power and Energy Industrial Zone around 9th Mile teed off, too

In this well researched publication, you will find everything you need to know about the Enugu commercial agriculture success story. Large scale agriculture got a fillip under his watch as the state governor. Thus, the Enugu San Carlos Farms, a large-scale pineapple grower meant to make the state a major exporter, stretching from Ihe through Amoli in Awgu LGA, Umuabi and Umuaga in Udi LGA to Achi in Oji River LGA, began to thrive. Also was the Songhai Agriculture initiative at Heneke, Ibinofia Ndi Uno in Ezeagu LGA. His era, in addition, witnessed the massive expansion and renovation of Adani Farm Settlement in Uzo Uwani LGA, with the establishment of a new rice mill there, together with a new road linking it, which resulted in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture designating Adani a staple crop-processing zone. Also, his government’s establishment of the College of Agriculture and Entrepreneurship in the state was recorded to be the first of its kind in Nigeria.

Reading this book, you will also be fascinated by the role the ex-governor played in upgrading the Akanu Ibiam Airport to an international airport. In 2009, he secured the approval of the extension of the runway from 2,400 to 3000 meters, and the width from 45 to 60 meters to accommodate wide-body aircraft, while re-asphalting the runway. A brand new terminal was also built in keeping with international standard. By August 23, 2013, an excited Chime witnessed the arrival of an Ethiopian Airlines flight at the airport, thus, crystallising to reality a struggle that began over five decades ago.

While he was in office, the former governor, the book tells us, ensured that civil servants were paid salaries on the 25th of every month as a way of strengthening the public service, and pension arrears owed to civil servants were cleared. His administration equally recalled 5,000 civil servants disengaged from service by the previous administration in the state. Civil servants deserving of promotions got just that in the course of regular promotion exercises. The Office of the Head of Service ensured that continuous training exercises were affected. A total of 524 housing units were provided for different cadres of civil servants. Above all, the state became the first in the country to pay the new minimum wage.

Prudence and strict fiscal management became his watchword, cognizant of the fact that the Enugu State monthly allocation was not comparable to Lagos, Port Harcourt or Rivers State. With Enugu State Pay-Direct Account System, he was able to block revenue leakages, hence, generating billions of naira within a short time of its implementation. In fact, many projects executed by his government, like the new Enugu State Secretariat, were funded with internally generated revenue account.

Under his tenure, Enugu also became a tourist destination. Nollywood harnessed the potentials of the state as an ideal location for shooting movies, the government having made it a secure and conducive place to inhabit and explore. Part of his vision to make Enugu an ideal destination for tourism was the creation of Ministry of Culture and Tourism out of the Ministry of Information. Thus, the Enugu Road Block, an annual event that showcased the best Nigerian talents in music and comedy, became a new national rave.

In the judicial sector, twenty-five new magistrates were appointed during his tenure in each of the 17 LGAs in the state as the customary courts in the state increased from under 60 to 150. Also, his administration established the Customary Court of Appeal and appointed a President and seven judges. Among others, it built a befitting edifice for the Judicial Service Commission and a massive auditorium within the High Court premises.

These achievements are just a tip of the iceberg. His tenure, from facts on ground, was nothing short of an Olympian spell. With the passage of time, memories can fade. But a well-documented vista lives with us and with generations unborn. This is what An Honour to Serve: Enugu State in the Sullivan Years, a book that chronicles a storied renaissance, intends to achieve.

Placed on the table of any aspiring Nigerian or African leader, it can get him cracking, for, as the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Professor Chinedu Nebo, pens in “The Renaissance of the Coal City”, a poem in the book: Coal City damsel… you now awake, groggy eyed, though/ Alluring looks, mimicking the famed portrait/ Of Mona Lisa legend.

SOURCE: SUN NEWS

ANA ENUGU 2019: Writers Trade Tackles Over Aborted ANA Election

Image: ANA

BY SUN NEWS

It was meant to be a remarkable homecoming for Nigeria’s writers’ guild, as it was tagged, but things, fell apart when it mattered most, and the centre wobbled out of control. Twenty-eight years after the first ANA Convention was held in Enugu, the 38th national convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors returned to the Coal City where it was founded by Chinua Achebe with great expectations, but it took a turn for the worse.

The first telltale sign that things were not going according to plan was when, days before the beginning of the convention on October 31st, 2019, the much expected funds from the Enugu State Government never came, to the embarrassment of the LOC led by the state Chairman, Mr. Zulu Ofoelue, who tried all it could to reach out to Governor IfeanyI Ugwuanyi. But the immediate past president of the association, Mallam Denja Abdullahi, rallied round to salvage some pride for the association by raising some funds to get the convention underway.

The Festival of Life on the Day One, Friday, November 1st, 2019, saw poets and artistes performing to rev up the convention. Denja Abdullahi’s drama, Death and the King’s Grey Hair, was enacted by students of the Theatre Arts Department. The keynote speech, the next day, by Professor Egya Emman Sule, on “Poetics of Integration” was a major attraction at opening ceremony. But those were about the glimmering shafts of a fading light.

The AGM, which kicked off at noon on Saturday, was characterised by ruckus, culminating in an anticlimax as the election, which was supposed to usher in a new national executive council, as done every two years, was aborted, later in the day, marred by alleged voters list manipulation, accusations of thuggery, vote buying, etecetera.

It was meant to be a day of glory for one of the four presidential aspirants –Camillus Ukah (the Immediate past ANA Vice President from ANA Imo), Ahmed Maiwada (former ANA Legal Adviser from ANA Abuja), Ofonome Inyang (immediate past ANA General Secretary from ANA Akwa Ibom) and Chike Ofili (former Chairman of ANA Lagos from ANA Lagos).

But, on that ill-fated day in the Coal City, chickens never came to roost, as decorum was thrown to the winds. Thus, writers, who were regarded as the conscience of the nation, became the laughing stock of a nation, as they whimpered long into the night at IMT International Conference Centre, Enugu Conference, inconsolable, like some despondent, nondescript characters they often depict in their fiction.

While some of the presidential aspirants and writers have heaped the blame on Denja Abdullahi for masterminding the crisis that rocked the convention, others have blamed the presidential candidates themselves and their supportrers for fanning the embers of discord and resorting to thuggery.

The Sun Literary Review spoke to two of the major presidential aspirants, Camillus Ukah and Ahmed Maiwada, perceived as the strongest contenders and also in the eye of the storm for their opinions on what went down in Enugu.

Camillus Ukah
“The idea of creating crisis by Denja Abdullahi to pave way by Denja for a candidate already well endeared to the ANA electorate is completely out of place in my own case with respect to the disrupted ANA 2019 election. Furthermore, no man in his right senses would want to set fire on his own house. The Denja Abdullahi-led ANA administration had built a formidable house in terms of achievements before the 2019 ANA Convention. That convention was expected to be the event for parting ovation and for the celebration of a work well done. Denja Abdullahi or his admirers could not have been party to any form of crisis in that convention. The crisis in the 2019 convention was rather from the direction of those who defiantly refused to see anything good in the glaring giant strides of the 2015-2019 ANA National EXCO. They were free to make their points and hold their opinions, not bringing down the house. They did not allow members to peacefully decide their next set of leaders.

“By ANA’s constitution, no one is a candidate until he or she is duly nominated on the floor of the Congress. We only campaigned as members interested in running for offices. But none of us had been nominated and none of us was a candidate in a constitutional sense. But the leadership of the association listened to us and treated us with respect. The EXCO followed the constitution and house rules until some persons, bent on derailing the process, insisted that the EXCO should not nominate members of the electoral committee.

“To achieve a peaceful process, the EXCO yielded and allowed each of the persons (interested in) running for the post of the president to dominate someone of their choice to the electoral committee. It was unprecedented, but it was done to build confidence in the process. The EXCO was dissolved and the electoral committee took over proceedings. The committee called all the four members who were interested in the presidency to a meeting. The electoral committee and the ‘aspirants’ agreed on the modalities and ground rules (which were consistent with the constitution, house rules, and previous electoral practices). There was no disagreement.

So the electoral committee began the accreditation process. ‘Aspirants’ who had complaints were at liberty to speak to the electoral committee as a whole or to their own nominee in the electoral committee. Some ‘aspirants’ spoke to the committee; and the committee noted their complaints and promised to address them before the nominations. But those ‘aspirants’ could not trust and respect the judgment and integrity of the persons representing them in the electoral committee. Those ‘aspirants’ chose rather to disrupt the process to the shock and embarrassment of their own representatives in the electoral committee.

“Now, let us take about exclusion specifically. We all agreed on the terms of the accreditation. If we work by the house rules of excluding first timers from voting, the number of candidates eligible to vote during conventions is cumulative. States that regularly attend conventions in their numbers over the years would naturally produce more eligible voters than those who show scanty irregular presence.

“The 2019 ANA Convention was particularly remarkable with the bloating of the overall attendance. State branches that were known for one regular attendee (or at most two attendees), registered tens of unknown faces for the convention. Proper accreditation ought to prevent those first-timers from voting. That was constitutional, and we all the ‘aspirants’ agreed it should be done. One wonders why they turned around to unleash thugs on the convention. One wonders whether accreditation has become a strange process in elections.

“The violent fellows should have had the courage to state their true intentions from the beginning: to set the constitution aside, to allow all first-timers and non-members to vote, and to, ultimately, destroy the election.

“2019 ANA Convention was not the first time security men were invited to protect writers and to help maintain order during convention. Since the 2015 election in Kaduna, there has been security presence during ANA National elections, which, of course, has been necessitated by the state of insecurity in the country and the increasing desperation for ANA’s top offices. Unfortunately, the security operatives invited this year were simply impotent in the face of crisis. There were candidates who boasted openly that they had bought over the security agencies two weeks before the convention.

“It appears they compromised the security agents in order to set their thugs free on the convention. I was shocked to see the importation of thugs. I got the shock of my life when I saw some writers transform themselves into thugs and motor park touts…to say nothing about the non-members they recruited to cause violence. Some of the said violent writers were aspirants to the highest elective position of the association. They were desperate and they scuttled the election process, even though their own nominees were part of the umpire. What a disgrace! I still wish it was a bad dream. There is no justification for the action of the ‘aspirants’ and their thugs. They were a violent minority that upset a peaceful house.”

Ahmed Maiwada

“Where could I have imported the thugs from, anyway? I never did. .Nonetheless, there are several pictures of me with my supporters at the convention, which my supporters and I have shared all over Facebook. Kindly show those pictures to the person who accessed me of importing thugs and ask him or her to point out any thug there with me. From what I know, several of my teeming supporters were going writers from all over Nigeria, each of them duly registered through his or her chapter chairman to participate in the convention. And thus assertion remains until proof to the contrary is established.

“Accusing me of masterminding the failure of the elections by vote buying doesn’t agree with reason and what actually transpired at the convention. How did vote buying (assuming there was any) influence Mallam Denja Abdullahi’s infamous list of voters in which duly registered delegates were disenfranchised: the real cause of the failure of the elections? Any supporter of any candidate who told you vote buying was the cause of the failure of the election was either not at the convention or a pathological liar.

“In any case, how did I buy the votes, when there were no ballot papers distributed by the time the disruption of the accreditation process took place? I was sitting in the chair inside the hall that evening, after being called into the hall by members of the Electoral Committee. I was busy collating visible malpractices ranging from student delegates from a chapter or two, first timers, disqualified delegates, etc, when I heard the noises of protest at the entrance.

“I went over only to see that delegates from a particular state chapter were not taking being kept outside the hall lightly. Soon, every delegate not allowed into the hall pushed his way in by force. The hall was in pitch darkness then. I didn’t go and give anybody money to force himself in. I didn’t even have any cash on me, after being too busy at the venue to go to the ATM. How could I have bought any votes under that circumstance? Could I have done it earlier on? Well, I’d been in that hall since I arrived soon after the start of plenary, only going out briefly to consult with my team members. So where and when did anybody see me buying votes, assuming there were ballot papers held in the hands of delegates?

“To my thinking, the supporters of the opposition candidates were jealous of the way my teeming supporters had received me at the convention venue and felt sorry for their candidates regarding the votes I had coming in my favour. They should be told that politics isn’t for crying babies.

“The allegation of imposing the former Vice President on ANA by the former President was not only made by my supports, I also made the same allegation. A number of people had informed me that the former President had asked them to support the former Vice President, but many had told him that, based on their honesty and personal assessments, that person lacked what they thought ANA Presidents should have.

“This sad even started right from the convention in Lagos last year. I got to hear of it in November last year, in a chat I had with the first person who asked me to consider running for the Presidency, based on the total rejection of the planned imposition by the former President by a whole section of ANA in Nigeria. The former President had fought with a few of his close associates chiefly on account of their supporting me for the Presidency rather than the candidate he had directed them to support.

“Someone lost his job as ANA Project Manager because of that. Many were harassed or intimidated by the said former President. Were there such indications in Enugu? I can say there was, and there is no better evidence than the infamous list prepared by the former President, of registered dejected, which accredited all delegates from Chapters supporting the former Vice President to vote and disqualified most of delegates from all other Chapters assumed to be supporters of the other Presidential candidates.

“I think credible elections are very feasible as long as the causes of the disruption – Mallam Denja Abdullahi, the former President, and his manipulated list of eligible delegates, are out of the way. The list was kept very secret by the former President, who singlehandedly prepared it, in total isolation of the General Secretary, whose constitutional duty it was to keep the said register. By the time we saw the said list, the Electoral Committee members had run through it for us to discover the alarming reality of several eligible delegates being completely excluded, for no other reason than they hailed from Chapters considered as strong Chapters for the Presidential candidates other than his anointed one.

“I should hope the Electoral Committee would do a proper list of delegates duly registered for the Enugu and permit for verification by the various chapter chairmen, who must exhibit receipts of convention fees they are alleged to have paid ANA National on behalf of their delegates. Once that is done, then we’re back on track.”

I Never Apologised For Hailing Gowon, Says Moghalu

Kingsley Moghalu and Yakubu Gowon. Image: Moghalu via The Guardian.

BY LAWRENCE NJOKU

ENUGU (THE GUARDIAN) -- Former Presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has clarified that he never apologised to Ndigbo or any other Nigerian for hailing former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd.) in a personal message he sent to him during his birthday recently.

The former deputy governor of the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) said that in his speech at the second Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Memorial Lecture held at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbariam, Anambra state on Monday, he apologised to persons whose sensitivities were offended by his use of the word ‘humane’ in describing Gowon based on his personal knowledge of the general.

“My apology to the sensitivity of such persons is a very different thing from repudiating my birthday message to Gen. Gowon, which I did not do.

“Having information and a perspective from my personal relationship with Gen. Gowon, which was not available to those who reacted on the social media to my message, their misunderstanding of my birthday message as an ‘endorsement’ of the deaths of their loved ones is understandable but regrettable.

“That is why I felt an apology and further explanation on that particular point was necessary. But I did not repudiate my birthday message to Gen. Gowon.”

The Guardian had reported yesterday that the politician apologised for hailing Gowon.

Moghalu stressed that it was wrong to interpret a birthday message he sent to Gowon as “being insensitive to the deaths of our family members, young and old, during the terrible civil war.”

He added, “This was far from my intention because in my message I urged Gen. Gowon to step forward and play a leadership role in bringing the painful issue of the civil war and its lessons to closure so that Nigeria can heal. Because clearly, despite the no victor, no vanquished policy, Igbo people have remained heavily discriminated against in Nigeria in many ways, in particular in the political terrain in which there appears to be an unspoken conspiracy to prevent a person of Igbo ethnic nationality from becoming president of Nigeria.

“I am deeply sorry and apologise, to everyone whose sensitivity I offended if I mistakenly conveyed the impression that I, as an Igbo man, was uncaring about the millions of people, mostly Igbo, that perished in the war. Nothing could have been farther from the truth or my intentions.”

Moghalu, however, asked Ndigbo to put the pains of the civil war experience behind them and move on for the peace and development of the nation.